I Can't Be Cool
by yamtt
Summary: Seto Kaiba's been accused of the attempted murder of Siegfried von Shroider and now standing trial. Rated T to be safe, some language, but not really violence . . . yet.


It's been a loooong time since I've posted anything. Did this a while back, but I figured I'd just toss up and see if anyone wanted to bother with it. Don't own YGO . . . Yaminah and Tazi are mine. Go for it. This is based off an idea started in an RP and I just decided to go my own little route with it. And yeah, it's all supposed to be in italics. It'll probably be a couple chapters if I ever get around to it all._  
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_"Mr. Kaiba, how would you . . . Let's see . . . Describe your relationship with Mr. Von Shroider?" the lawyer questioned while pacing back and forth in front of the witness stand. Seto watched him with hints of annoyance._

_"Haven't we already established the answer to this question?" he remarked. The judge sighed at the young man's reluctance to cooperate once again._

_"Just answer the question, Mr. Kaiba," he pleaded, weary from the long trial._

_"Fine. I'd say that there's a strong, mutual disliking of one another," Seto said flatly. The lawyer pushed his glasses back up his nose a bit._

_"Would you say this disliking may borderline hate?"_

_"If you mean hate as in the wanting to kill, then no."_

_Yaminah ran a hand through her already dishelmed hair stressfully. Her body refused to stay still for an inkling of a moment as the anxiety continued to course through her veins. Behind her, she could hear Mokuba shifting about in discomfort and Tazi tapping her foot at a rapid tempo. Large ceiling fans spun lazily and did not do much to cool the courtroom. Most of the participants managed to stay quiet, albeit the occasional mumbling to one another. Either way it went, when this was over news teams would swallow the place._

_She tugged at one of the sleeves of her suit jacket and let out a sigh. First she glanced at the lawyer beside her, who seemed to find things already done for, despite his long, vicious attempts to prove his client innocent; then, she tried to catch Seto's eye. At the moment though he was too preoccupied. He looked as exhausted as she did. Several long nights, debating stratagems and trying to find loopholes. Meanwhile, reporters had camped out on the front lawn, no matter how many times security hauled them off._

_The occasional clenching of Seto's fist caught Yaminah's eye. His temper had long since flared and burnt out, but it was still difficult at times to keep it from getting the better of him. Yaminah leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table while lacing her fingers. The lawyer pacing continued his repetitive questions, though he left no subject untouched._

_"So you say you were in the office at the time the power went out?"_

_"Yes," Seto answered, gritting his teeth slightly._

_"That would mean there would have been no time for you to get down to the infirmary, choke Siegfried Von Shroider and disappear again before the power came back on, correct?"_

_"Correct," he snapped, obviously irked to be currently playing the role of this man's puppet, repeating his words almost every time._

_"But you keep no security cameras in your office, do you, Mr. Kaiba," the lawyer pointed out as he ceased pacing._

_"No."_

_"And why is that, Mr. Kaiba?" Yaminah growled quietly at how it seemed the lawyer was mocking him more than anything whenever he addressed him formally. _

_"I like my privacy," Seto stated after a moment. "The work I do in my office is not my employees' business until I make it theirs." The lawyer slowly smirked. Yaminah glanced over to their own lawyer beside them and saw him wince. _

_"Really now . . . Yet your assistant works in your office with you." Seto grunted._

_"She can't really assist me if she's not there where I need her," he retorted._

_"You put a lot of trust in Ms. Tashanazi, don't you?" the lawyer questioned again, this time his voice almost sinister. Seto's eyes narrowed, but he answered the question._

_"Of course. Otherwise she would not have the position she does. It's not unlike politics, Mr. Goldstein. You place those you trust around you for support. Though I hardly see how this has anything to do with the matter at hand." Goldstein shrugged and started up his pacing._

_"Why, I'm only saying that with such privacy . . . You could be doing almost anything in that office. Why, for all anyone knows, you could be supporting terrorists or having an affair with your assistant." His voice was rather light and mockingly innocent in his assumptions. He also seemed rather pleased at the success of the affect of his tone as there was an wave of noise in the jury box. Seto snarled, especially open seeing the appall on Tazi's and Mokuba's faces at the suggestion. Yaminah about stood up to yell something, but the man next to her grabbed her arm forcefully. Hatred burned in her eyes._

_"Or you even . . ." Goldstein added. "Could have murdered your adopted father, Gozaburo Kaiba." Seto's eyes shot open wide at the accusation. His lawyer immediately slammed his hands down on the table and stood up._

_"Objection, your honor!" he shouted over the simultaneous talking that had swept over the courtroom. "I find these accusations and direction of Mr. Goldstein's questioning of my client completely irrelevant to the case!" The judge slammed his gavel several times to quiet the growing chatter._

_"I find it _quite_ relevant to the case, your honor!" Goldstein countered. "The angle I'm pursuing here does have a purpose!" The judge pounded harder and the courtroom went silent._

_"Objection overridden. Mr. Goldstein, proceed, but get to the point." Goldstein nodded._

_"Thank you, your honor. Now, as I was saying . . ." Seto shook in anger and glared at the older man._

_"I did not kill Gozaburo," Seto stated icily. Mr. Goldstein waved a finger at him tauntingly._

_"Ah, but you have no proof of that do you? Just as you have no proof you were in your office at the time of the power outage."_

_"I have employees that saw me on my way down to the infirmary."_

_"We have several that testified they didn't, Mr. Kaiba," Goldstein countered._

_"They're lying," Seto flatly responded._

_"Would they really benefit from perjury, Mr. Kaiba?"_

_"They certainly seem to think so. But doesn't anyone with enough motive?"_

_"Are you not a well liked employer, Mr. Kaiba?" Goldstein asked. Seto raised an eyebrow._

_"I give reasonable benefits to my employees. I can't say they all deserve them, but I would prefer not to get sued or have them all go on strike. But that doesn't mean they're all going to like me. Everyone in power has enemies," he answered thoroughly. Goldstein nodded in partial agreement._

_"You have a lot of enemies, correct?"_

_"More than I'd like."_

_"Would you consider Mr. Von Shroider one of them?"_

_"He's the CEO of one of my lead competitors, so I suppose I do. But we've been down this path already." Irritation laced his every word. He wanted to tug at the tie Tazi had done for him early this morning, but that could look like he was beginning to cave. The young business man glanced over where Tazi and Mokuba sat. _I wish they hadn't come . . . I don't want them to see this.

_His deep cerulean blue eyes also darted over to his lawyer and Yaminah. His friend had shifted her position yet again, not seeming to ever get comfortable. Her own blue eyes appeared to be locked on Goldstein at the moment, almost as though hoping he would drop where he stood if she glared long enough. Seto leaned back and tugged on the front of his pant-legs. _

_Goldstein leaned against the witness stand's outer wall. "Now, I've heard your assistant can get rather violent . . ." Seto looked up and briefly at Yaminah. She was alert now, feeling her own innocence about to be questioned._

_"She can get aggressive, but I wouldn't say she doesn't have a reason at times. Her job is stressful," Seto answered as carefully as possible. _

_"And she was in the same room as Von Shroider at the time he was suffocated, yes?" Goldstein glanced back at Yaminah as well and smirked a bit._

_"As a patient," Seto quickly informed him. "She'd been poisoned and we found it best not to move her."_

_"Yet she was on the floor . . . Having knocked over Von Shroider's little brother. That's a little odd wouldn't you say?" Seto resisted the urge to roll his eyes._

_"She was probably started when the lights went out," he said plainly._

_"Is your assistant capable of murder?" Goldstein frankly asked after a moment. Even though the court had been quiet before, it seemed to grow even more so. Seto stared at the man's bluntness for a moment. His heart slowly began to increase its tempo as all the memories of destruction his friend had created began to form in his mind. Certainly he could find a way to answer this and avoid revealing anything. If he committed flat out perjury, there would be no hope._

_Yaminah sat tensely in the wooden chair. Similar thoughts raced through her mind. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest and echoed in her ears._ This is taking a bad turn . . . But at least it's turning away from Seto.

_"…She's capable of defending herself," he finally said, trying to sound as firm and sure as possible. He could no leave any doubt in his voice. Goldstein looked amused._

_"That was a rather delayed action, Mr. Kaiba," he taunted._

_"Yet it's the truth," Seto retorted._

_"Has she ever killed anyone? Because it's very likely she could have gotten out of bed and strangled Mr. Von Shroider, then either out of clumsiness or good planning, made it appear she tripped over Leonhard." Seto narrowed his eyes._

_"You're grabbing at straws now." Goldstein smirked once again, this time at the edge in Seto's voice._

_"Am I? I find it quite a plausible story if it's not you. She would have had access to your coat as well . . ."_

_"So now you're suggest my assistant and friend framed me?" Seto asked. "Because that sounds ridiculous to me." Goldstein pushed away from the witness stand._

_"Does that mean you have proof it was otherwise?" Seto gritted his teeth, knowing he did not. The lawyer's mind seemed to be turning in a different direction now. Almost as though he were putting pieces together in his mind._

_"I didn't think so," Goldstein said a moment later. He turned away a bit and looked directly at Yaminah. "Though you never did answer my question. Has she ever killed anyone?"_

_"… Only out of self defense," Seto growled._

_"Another delayed reaction . . ." Goldstein smirked further. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we're on to something here. I'd like to call Ms. Yaminah Tashanazi to the stand once again." Another uproar hit the crowded courtroom._

_"Yami!" Tazi whispered worriedly as she leaned forward over the gate separating her from her other half. But Yaminah was in too much shock to really acknowledge her._

_"What the hell . . . ?" she muttered. Seto's lawyer beside her frowned deeply. Meanwhile, Seto looked over to Yaminah, he set his jaw and looked back to Goldstein._

_"Wait." While not shouting, his voice carried loudly over the commotion. Goldstein immediately spun about on his heel and looked at Seto expectantly. The young man took a deep breath and looked back to Yaminah. As he did, the spirit felt a dreaded sinking feeling._

No . . .

_"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?" Goldstein asked, pretending to not know what was coming._

_"I did it," Seto said, voice a bit quiet then growing stronger. All the while, he gazed at his friend. "I'm the one that caused the power outage. I tampered with a fuse box down in the infirmary, near Von Shroider's room. Then I went into the room and strangled him until he ceased moving. I knocked Yaminah over and made sure that Von Shroider had a piece of my coat so that it would appear as though I was framed. All the while, I was framing my friend . . ."_

_The courtroom roared, both in the jury box and the observing crowd. Yaminah slumped back in her chair heavily and shook slightly. Tazi and Mokuba behind her stared at Seto in disbelief, heart break washing over their faces. Tazi's eyes were already filling up with tears. Yaminah felt a lump of her own beginning to form in her throat. She could only stare at Seto, who currently was looking down at the floor, somewhat defeated. Goldstein, on the other hand, was looking like a very happy man._

You set me up, you bastard,_ Seto thought bitterly. The guard next to him grabbed him up and dragged him off the witness stand as the judge struck with his gavel again and again._

_"Seto Kaiba, I hereby charge you guilty with the attempt of murder of Siegfried Von Shroider. Court is adjourned," the judge announced as he banged his gavel in finality. The guards at the two back doors opened them and camera flashes filled the air. Reporters and cameramen flooded in, chatting constantly and pushed through as others tried to get out. The guard next to Seto proceeded to put him in handcuffs._

_"Seto!"_

_"Big Brother!" Seto grimaced at Tazi's and Mokuba's calls. He felt them twist his heart painfully._

_Seto's lawyer groaned in defeat and began to gather his papers. Next to him, Yaminah got up shakily. Her eyes trailed across the room to where Von Shroider was getting up to congratulate Goldstein on a job well done. Blue orbs darkened in hatred. The witch pushed past her companions lawyer as well as several other people and ran after Siegfried as he turned away._

_"Son of a bitch!" she screamed as she grabbed him. Before Von Shroider could respond coyly, Yaminah struck him fiercely and sent him to the floor. "I am going to kill you!"_

_"Elder brother!" Leonhard cried from the other side of the gate. Siegfried started to answer but felt the wind being knocked out of him as Yaminah struck him again. Everyone's attention was quickly brought to the front of the room. Seto's head shot up from where he was glaring at the floor and his eyes grew wide once again._

_"Dammit!" he hissed. After several attempts, the young CEO managed to tear away from the guard and ran over to where Yaminah was attempting to beat Von Shroider within an inch of his life. He bumped into several people on his way and squirmed past another that was trying to tear Yaminah away from the German. In the background, the judge could be heard yelling._

_"Yaminah!" he hollered over the noise. "Damn it, Yaminah!" Seto's fingers grasped at his friend's suit jacket. It proved difficult with the handcuffs, but finally upon getting a strong hold, he yanked her up. Roughly, he spun her around and took two fistfuls of the front of her coat. Yaminah resisted at first but after a hard shake she came back to the present. She stared at Seto, bewilderment across her features and heartbreak flickered in her eyes. Nevertheless, Seto gave her another good, hard shake. _

_"We can't have you getting yourself thrown in jail for battery or contempt of court!" he whispered. "I need you to get me out of this!"_

_"Seto . . ." Yaminah's voice strained, threatening to crack. Seto looked into her eyes firmly._

_"I'm depending on you." Then he was torn away from her by two guards and lead away. Seto turned his face away from cameras and microphones, refusing to comment to any of them. He took a glance over his shoulder one last time before the doors were shut behind him. Behind Yaminah, Siegfried had gotten up and was currently brushing himself off, though smirking. Yaminah clenched her fists tightly._

_"Damn it . . ."_


End file.
